Sometimes Quiet Is Violent
by Captain Risu
Summary: It was supposed to be another quiet date. A peaceful break in their workload of fighting crime and keeping Villains out of the streets. But things don't always go according to plan. Sometimes they even turn worse without any chance to get better. He always joked the universe was out to get him. For once, Ochako wanted him to be wrong. [Future Fic]


**(TW: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH)**

**A/N: **This originally was supposed to be for _Kacchako Angst Week_ Day 7 prompt of _**Separation**_. I'm glad for once that I didn't finish it back then. The week had already been heavy enough... I doubt anyone would have had the strength to go through another MCD fic at the end of it ^^"

I changed the title a bunch of times before settling with this one. Bless the first theme song!

**Theme Song 1: ****Car Radio by Twenty One Pilots**

* * *

The lack of smell unsettled Ochako.

Hospitals always carried an odor of antiseptics and sickness—a fact she had gotten used to so far in her pro-Hero career. But she had never been to the quarantine ward before. Flanking her every side, the members of the anti-hazard group didn't return any of her earlier attempts at small talk. Only the shuffling of their footsteps and clothes echoed in the deserted hallways for the duration of their trip.

Her appointed room reflected this emptiness too. Soft white padding covered all four walls, floor, and ceiling. The lack of furniture forced Ochako to sit in a corner. Resting the back of her head against the wall, she let a deep sigh. This sterile environment couldn't distract her from the anxious feelings twisting in her chest. She desperately needed something to hold on and make this moment feel real. Because it didn't, no matter how hard she tried.

* * *

Only a few hours earlier, Ochako had rushed through the exit of her Hero agency. Some last-minute reports had made her lose track of time, and she was running late for her date with Katsuki. Even though they lived together for over a year now, their busy schedules rarely overlapped. It had been an unusual stroke of luck for both to be free that afternoon, and nothing had pointed otherwise when she entered the mall—the crowd's chatter buzzing around the plaza. Ochako spotted the shock of ash blond hair with ease. Katsuki stood near a column, browsing on his smartphone. His almost permanent scowl melted into a soft smile as their eyes met. He always denied doing it with a passion but familiar warmth would spread across Ochako's cheeks every time it happened.

Just a few steps before reaching him though, the ceiling collapsed. Glass shards rained on the crowd like a hail storm, sending everyone into a panic. Ochako had gotten numb to the screaming a _long_ time ago—a painful fact to admit even in the privacy of her mind. Still, her heart leaped to her throat as she bridged the gap between them and grabbed his arm. Katsuki regarded her from top to toe, before his eyes locked on the Villain.

Even calling that had been quite the understatement.

A shapeless maroon sludge, the size of a truck, had landed in the middle of the plaza. As it settled with a sickening squelch, Ochako couldn't help the shivers running along her back. Several Nomu had appeared around town throughout the years, like a horrible memento from their high school days. But those abominations had kept a solid form for the most part. This _thing _seemed like an escapee from the pages of a comic book.

Ochako activated the transceiver in her bracelet. "Uravity calling for reinforcements. Villain attack at—"

Tendrils shoot out of the blob, piercing through supporting columns and walls. Large chunks of concrete fell to the ground in a deafening crash. The two Heroes jumped in opposite directions to escape them, getting separated.

"Ochako!" Katsuki shouted through the smoke.

"I'm fine!" She called back. "Go!"

His explosions illuminated his form, a dark silhouette in a battle stance. He leaped at the blob, screaming bloody murder.

The crowd had split into two groups, forming a crescent on either side of the plaza. Security guards lined up to prevent civilians from approaching further. Those close to Ochako were begging the crowd to evacuate since the exit was on their side. They couldn't do much for the others; only hope reinforcements would arrive soon. But human curiosity always bypassed even the sense of imminent danger. The crowd stood their ground to watch everything unfold. Their reactions gave Ochako a sense of the fight as she searched for injured people among the rubble. Cheers would resonate when Katsuki landed a hit or they'd all hold their breaths if it was a close call.

While bringing a kid and their father to security, the crowd let a collective cry. Ochako turned around in time to see a tendril smack Katsuki away like an annoying fly. He crashed through the glass front of a store, disappearing inside. Ochako's first urge was to make sure he was alright. She steeled her feet on the ground instead. No way would something like this deter her boyfriend. Until he returned or reinforcements arrived first, it was her turn to protect these people.

The blob was wailing like a lost child as it set course for the opposite side of the plaza.

Ochako dashed after it.

Without her costume, Ochako didn't have lots of room for maneuvers or any type of weapon in her hands. She had to find something to use. As she jumped around the fallen debris, something metallic shining through the smoke caught her attention. It was the remains of the glass ceiling's framework. Skidding to a stop, she regarded the metallic bars. Half of them had been trampled by a collapsed supporting column. So they didn't budge in the slightest when Uraraka tried to pull them out.

People were screaming louder. The monster had almost reached them.

Ochako didn't have time to waste. She floated the column high enough to pull the framework out and rushed to get in front of the Villain.

"Everyone! Get down!" she yelled.

Trusting in their common sense, Ochako didn't look back. Raising the framework over her shoulder like an axe, she slashed at the blob. It went through a lot smoother than she expected. The top part remained on the framework but the lower half proved more interesting when the mud settled down again.

"A person!" Someone shouted. "There is a person inside!"

Indeed, a human-shaped form stood in the middle of the disgusting muck as if the blob had been their private bathtub. Long, bony, grey arms framed a white male torso; thin enough that the Villain's ribs were visible underneath their skin. Their head was human—even if their malnourished cheeks reminded Ochako more off a skeleton—with tufts of pale blond hair spreading unruly on their skull. With eyes closed, they appeared to be sleeping. Their chest was barely moving.

Ochako set the framework on the floor, holding her breath in case it made any sound. _Is this the Villain's true form or is this a prisoner?_ She thought.

The crowd grew silent as well, unsure of this development.

One lone security guard tapped at Ochako's arm to share an idea with her. After conversing in sign language to not rouse the dormant Villain, both agreed it was for the best and set the plan in motion. They began guiding the citizens to the other side of the plaza, prompting them to stay quiet. Ochako insisted the crowd move at a great distance from the blob and its tendrils. It seemed to work for a while.

Yet she never realized when the Villain had awakened.

Ochako heard glass roll on the tiles while helping an elderly woman. Lifting her head, she saw Katsuki walking outside of the store. Even with his clothes in shreds and blood staining his face, he looked fine. She allowed herself to smile at him. When he didn't return it and dashed in her direction instead, Ochako knew she had done a mistake. Turning around, she saw the Villain staring at her with their soulless grey eyes.

They cupped their ears, long fingers threading into their hair, and started screaming. It was the same eerie wail from earlier, high-pitched and chilling to the bone.

Someone pulled Ochako. A leather jacket-clad back cut her view from the Villain. Right before the blob exploded.

* * *

Something broke the silence engulfing Ochako in the containment room. Voices vibrated through the wall and she shifted to press her ear against it. They were angry. A door closed, leaving the person in the next room to bang against it. They were too far away for her to understand who it was or what exactly they were saying. The soft cotton-like surface of the wall wasn't making her job any easier.

"Ms. Uravity?" a voice said.

Ochako jolted and spun around in alarm. One of the doctors who had examined her earlier had entered the room without her noticing. Ochako mentally scolded herself for this slip-up. Certainly, her senses hadn't dulled yet.

"Yes?"

The doctor wore a similar bodysuit to the anti-hazard group, but it was light-blue instead of yellow. "Please take this," he said, offering what he was holding in his black glove to her.

Ochako took the object. _An earpiece_, she thought, _like the ones at work_. It had the same lightweight frame and hugged her earlobe with ease.

"Why are you giving me this?" she asked.

"We know this must be hard on you. But this is our limit. We cannot calm him down and we have tried everything in our power. Giving him sedatives at this stage could be lethal."

Realization dawned on her with crystal clarity. "Is he alright?" Ochako said, clutching the front of her shirt. "Can I see him?"

"He requested the same, but unfortunately it isn't allowed. We settled this arrangement for both of you to communicate with each other. Truth be told, his aggressiveness would only further worsen his condition. Any method to ease his mind would be optimal."

Ochako didn't like the way the doctor phrased his answer. It stirred something in her chest she didn't want to come to terms with just yet. He was alive and she could still reach him.

"Thank you," she said. "I'll try my best."

The doctor nodded and left her alone again. No, that wasn't true. She was trapped but not alone anymore.

Ochako turned on the earpiece. Static buzzed for a couple of seconds before it connected.

"What fucking joke is this?" Katsuki yelled right inside her eardrum. "Let me see her, assholes! I swear. If you did _anything_ to her, you're all dead! You hear me!?"

Ochako never thought she'd be so relieved to almost lose her hearing, but tears started swelling at the corners of her eyes. The tightness in her chest eased up, piece by piece, while Katsuki continued raging and threatening the hospital staff with murder. He was endearing in his own brash way.

She giggled.

That shut him up for a moment before he asked. "Ochako?"

"Yes?" Her voice echoed scratchily and strangled over the line. She hated that but couldn't take it back.

"Did they do anything to you?" Katsuki asked, anger coloring the bass undertones of his voice again. "Because I swear if they—"

"No! Everything is fine!" Ochako defended herself, even when nothing was fine from the beginning. "The doctors just run some tests. Nothing else."

"Then why do you sound like you're crying, dumbass?"

"Says the one who's screaming is coming through soundproof walls!"

"Huh? You're outside?"

"Hello, neighbor."

Ochako heard through the earpiece how his clothes shifted as he walked. She approached the wall separating their rooms and pressed a hand on it. The contrast of her blackened skin with the white wall twisted her insides unpleasantly.

Katsuki exhaled loudly. "They don't let us see each other, but they put us in rooms next to each other? What a bunch of idiots."

"Hey, at least the reception is better this way," she said with a nervous laugh.

A soft thud echoed on the wall and he scoffed. "Aren't you a ray of sunshine?"

"Being all broody and gloomy won't make a difference now."

"Maybe you're just high on fever."

"Okay, King of Edgy Darkness. Maybe you should switch names with Tokoyami."

Katsuki snorted. After a couple of grunts, he sat down. "Glad to know you haven't lost your spark, Uravity."

Ochako resumed her position on the floor; her back pressed against the wall and hugging her legs. "Wished I could say the same, Katsuki." She refused to put any more distance between them than they already had.

Names held a significant meaning for him. At first, it had seemed Katsuki didn't care to remember anyone's name; calling everyone with a derogatory nickname instead. It had been a shallow observation though. He remembered them all but wouldn't use someone's name until the other person had proved their worth to him. Although, Katsuki always switched by which name he addressed Ochako when he wanted to shield her from his unpleasantness. Even after being together for so long; even after he had admitted that he viewed her as an equal. It hurt being treated like something fragile from him of all people.

"So what did the doctors tell you?" she asked.

"Nothing I didn't know already. What that asshole released was some sort of virus. Entered my bloodstream. Shouldn't use my Quirk, yadda, yadda."

Ochako pressed the finger pads of her index and thumb together. They were a brownish red instead of pink with black thunder-shaped streaks spreading to the rest of her palm. "Same here."

"That Doctor bastard is a total sicko," Katsuki said. "Can't take Hero society down with brute force? Let's make an alive biohazard bomb!" Another thud on the wall. "I wonder whose sorry-ass idea was this…"

"Toga's probably."

"Right. Makes sense. But targeting the activation point of Quirks? That has Facepalm's shitty signature all over it. It was the asshole's attempt at sarcasm, I'm calling it."

"But we were off duty," she said. "They couldn't possibly know we'd be there."

He sighed. "They are sore losers, Round Face. It wouldn't be beyond them to go that far. But with my disastrous luck when it comes to dates, it could have been just a coincidence."

"You're being a pessimist again."

"Guilty as charged."

Hearing this defeated tone from the man who claimed to be the next _Number One_ cut Ochako deeper than any of her injuries ever did. It used to be reserved for the dead of the night when it was only the two of them entwined on their shared bed. Another moment of perceived weakness Katsuki always pretended it never happened the next day.

Their last moments in that cursed shopping mall replayed in front of Ochako's eyes like a silent movie. Katsuki had taken the brunt of the explosion for her. Still, everything hurt when Ochako had come around. Paramedics were running in and out of her line of vision; their white uniforms blurring at the edges as if their presence wasn't real. Ochako registered the cold tiles under her cheek before realizing she couldn't move. All her consciousness, all her being, had been contained inside her head from the shock. Panic spread to every fiber of her body but the hypersensitivity only worsened her feeling of entrapment.

She took a shallow breath and searched for something to ground herself. Her gaze landed on the familiar blond spikes. Katsuki was laying an arm's length away. His outstretched hand hid his face from her. Ochako couldn't tell if he was awake or not. The explosion had blown his jacket's sleeve though, so she saw clearly how the virus had already spread all the way to his elbow. Her ears buzzed with static. Ochako wished for him to stir or raise his head. Any sign to show he was still alive.

_Wake up!_ She prompted._ Heroes don't stay down so long! Where is your pride?_ Her fingers twitched but her body was too numb to grasp his hand.

The paramedics lifted her from the ground and set her down on a stretcher, strapping her with leather constrains to secure her. Ochako didn't pay them any attention. She stared at Katsuki's form until they loaded her in the ambulance, and Ochako lost him from her sight.

_He is going to be fine!_ The marks had stopped spreading like vines along her arms, leaving behind a dull pain that wasn't enough of a reality check._ Everything is going to be fine!_

"Hey, Ochako," Katsuki said. "Was All Might always this big?"

Ochako's head shot up as if his voice had been a gunshot. "W-what do you mean?"

"I swear I used to reach his chest at least."

"Katsuki… All Might is dead," she said softly. "We went to his funeral three months ago."

"Right, we did." Katsuki let out a choked laugh. "For fuck's sake, this is ridiculous. I should have noticed there was something wrong with this picture. He's in his Silver Age costume, looking all shiny and healthy. And where did this beach come out from all of a sudden, huh?"

Every word was like a punch to the gut. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Ochako wiped them out with a frustrated sniff. This was just her mind running forward on its own, without anything concrete to base this feeling on besides her intuition.

_It must be._

"How does the beach look like?" she asked.

"Like the one in Shirahama. We used to go there with my folks every summer when I was little. Dunno why. The place _screamed_ tourist trap from like miles away. The beach was subpar at best." Katsuki snorted. He must have remembered something. "Best part of the trip was them chasing me so I won't jump off the _totally _forbidden cliff nearby and me doing it anyway. Their faces were priceless _every single time_. I was also grounded every single time but… We never stopped going there. At some point, I thought they were doing it on purpose so they won't have to buy me ice cream for the rest of the trip. That plan wouldn't be beyond the old hag, that's for sure."

Ochako wanted to scold him for calling his mother like that. The words stopped in her throat though, and she buried her face in her knees. Warm, salty tears continued dripping from her face, sticking hair to her cheeks and making her shirt damp. This time she didn't even try to wipe them. She didn't have the energy anymore.

"Ochako? Are you listening?"

"Y-yes," she whimpered. "G-go on."

"Guess the reason I'm hallucinating this place is because I wanted to take you there." His voice dipped lower than usual as if the words were hard to express. "I was such a lousy boyfriend. Thought I still have time. Take it slow and all that crap. What a pipe dream in our line of work."

Fear ran through her body like tar; clogging her arteries; making her limbs stiff; paralyzing her. The realization he was just a wall away and she couldn't reach him, let that fear root deep inside her chest.

"Don't say that!" Ochako turned around and slammed her fist on the wall. The padding absorbed the impact. It made her angrier. She wanted it to hurt. Nothing felt real otherwise. "I trusted you. I wanted to cherish our time together too. I was… happy… just _being_ with ya, Katsuki. Ya hear me?"

"Why are you crying, dumbass? It hurts hearing you like that."

"Then stop saying bullshit ya don't mean!"

There was a sniff over the line. "You're amazing. You know that right? I must have been the luckiest bastard on the planet to end up with you, Uraraka Ochako."

"Please don't go."

"The doctors said you'll be fine. They got you on time," Katsuki said with the calmness of a monk reciting a sutra. "The symptoms will take a week at most to go away but you'll live."

"Katsuki, please."

"Don't blame yourself. Just _don't_. It was a risk I was willing to take and I don't regret it. The world won't lose two Heroes today."

"Stop saying that!"

She heard him rise from the floor.

"I'm glad of one thing though. My last memory of you is going to be your smiling face."

"Please…" Her voice faded away as Ochako choked from the lump in her throat. "Don't leave me alone here."

The other side stayed silent, and it remained like that for a _really_ long time.

* * *

**A/N: Theme Song 2: ****Cancer by My Chemical Romance**

I had this fic in my drafts since October 19th of 2017, huh? The date turned out to be the biggest coincidence ever! Maybe that's why I felt the mighty need to finish it in the past few days... ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Well, I blame being sick and stuck at home for two weeks more for this. There are so many happy things to channel through before coughing one's lungs out gets to them. But I never expected to bawl over something I've written either and yet, here we are... Thank you for reading~


End file.
